After all these years
by WhatxStillxRemains
Summary: Imagine, finding out that everything you knew, everything you know is a lie. SSHG He protects her. She in turn, Saves him from himself. NON HBP/DH
1. The Story Unfolds

Author note: This story, originally called "Nobody's home" Has been re written again; hopefully you will enjoy it much more than my other stories. Note; this story makes no sense to begin with, but it will get there, it just needs to slowly unravel.

Ps: anyone want to beta?

Chapter 1

It was 9am, and the first day of the winter holidays at the wizarding school of Hogwarts. The entire place was unusually quiet, as the pupils had almost all left, and those that did stay, would favour long lie ins and trips to the local wizarding villages and playing quiddich rather than roaming the corridors. However most of the pupils that stayed were warned very strongly against leaving the grounds, as it was dangerous. Peeves the poltergeist occasionally swooped down to ink pellet Argus Filtch, the grumpy caretaker, and his filthy cat Mrs Norris. Apart from that there was rarely any sign of life in the castle.

The students, well most of them anyway, had been sent home to spend Christmas with their family's. Or what was left of them after all, the war had started a couple of months ago, many of the students had lost family members, even some of the teachers hadn't turned up for work this year, either to afraid to come to Hogwarts, or we're feared murdered. These were sad, sad and dangerous times.

By evening time, The castle was calm finally, Eventually, due to lack of pupils and staff to torment, Peeves the poltergeist had retired to the dungeons. Even Argus Filtch, the moody caretaker, was sitting in the great hall unable to find fault with anything occasionally petting Mrs Norris, who was definitely the most flea eaten cat Hogwarts had ever seen. All was calm, apart from the head teacher's office where a full scale argument was raging.

Severus Snape, Resident potions professor and Double agent, was pacing around Albus Dumbledore's office looking like he was going to kill anything that happened to get in his way, whether or not it was good or evil. It was really lucky that there were no students around! Severus Snape was well known for his cruel and at times mean streak towards any student that happened to get in his way.

"I'm not bloody going to do it. You can't make me. I refuse. After all I've done, After all I will do, on your orders and your trying to make me do this!" Snape raged, as he paced around Dumbledore's office, sending Falks the Phoenix hurriedly flying out of the way.

"Yes! You are dear boy, think of what you owe her and her family." Dumbledore replied calmly, as if an extremely pissed off Severus Snape was something he witnessed frequently. However for all anyone knew, he probably got Severus into this state of annoyal every second Tuesday.

"I don't owe them anything, and another thing, stop calling me Dear Boy!" Snape hissed. He turned around and tried to storm out of the door, which seemed to have magically locked itself, as if it wasn't ready for him to leave just yet.

"Open this damn door! Or I'll hex it to pieces" He threatened.

"You're doing it and that's that." Dumbledore said stubbornly as if he was talking to a sulking child rather than the man that was standing before him. He politely ignored the death glares and mutterings that were heading his way.

"Her family have saved your life countless times when you were a death eater. If I recall they were the ones who brought you over to our side in the first place." said an unusually unhappy Dumbledore. Even the sparkle that was usually present in his eyes had gone. He knew Severus wouldn't want anything to do with his students after they had left the castle, but he didn't actually think that he would allow any of them to come to any danger, Even Severus couldn't bear a grudge for seven years for no apparent reason.

"You know what danger she's in." He continued "and knowing how the death eaters work, you're the only one who can protect her... Even you..."Dumbledore paused to add drama to the sentence, "You especially know what its like to be in immediate danger that you have no control over"

"For Merlin's sake!" Severus finally exclaimed. "Il do it! Anything for you to shut up and leave me in peace for at least 5 minutes of my life."

Meanwhile, miles away in a large, quiet, newly bought 5-bedroom house on the outskirts of suburban London, a crisp white letter was on the table. At first glance it was a relatively normal, muggle letter, probably a electricity bill but on closer inspection, it read from the pureblood relations of Lord and Lady D'Neiro.

At the window a large white owl with a gold tag round its neck saying Ajax, was watching out of the corner of it's eyes for movement. Hearing footsteps on the bare wooden floorboards, it was satisfied that someone, the right person was there and it swooped away into the darkness of the night, leaving nothing but a white feather, and a small envelope behind.


	2. A letter

Chapter 2 

Hermione's mother picked up the envelope, off of the new wooden table with shaking hand's, She had seen the feather that was on the windowsill, and she knew in her heart what this letter was about. Seeing the seal on the back of the letter only confirmed her worst fears.

Cautiously opening the envelope, as not to rip the letter inside, she sighed and read;

Dear, Mrs and Mr Granger

It has come to our attention that our biological daughter Hermione is now 17; and she has come of age in the wizarding world. This means that now she can use her own magical powers, the glamour and tracking charm's that we have shielded her with from birth are becoming deflective now and our enemies know she exists, it is only a short matter of time before they know where she is located. It is time for her to know the truth that we all have tried to protect her from for the last 17 years.

Obviously, this is going to be a huge shock for Hermione, and she may feel shocked, and upset, maybe even unloved and make rash decisions which could damage her future and the future of the Order of The Phoenix. We urge you to answer any questions she may have, however trivial, to the best of your abilities, so she doesn't try to find answers from less than reliable sources.

We have arranged with Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts and Nicolas Ryhoni, Minister Of Magic in America, Both trusted friends of ours, for her to have a bodyguard, a teacher from her school, Hogwarts, to protect her from the remaining death eaters and their master.

We have also arranged for Hermione, in the summer, If she wishes, to visit our private mansion in America, she will be well looked after and have everything that she wants brought to her.

Please can you enclose a sheet, with your reply of Hermione's likes and dislikes, as this will be extremely helpful to us in knowing what she likes to do with her time, what her favourite foods are ...ect.

For the meantime, we have placed an anti apparition ward onto your house, and disconnected your fireplace from the floo network so that no dark wizard can apperate directly into the grounds. However this will not protect you for very long after they have located Hermione.

Yours truly,

Lord and Lady D'Neiro

Shaking, Hermione's mother shouted to her husband, Hermione's father Frank.

"Frank, come down here now, there's something. Important.. You've got to see"

Frank shuddered, waking himself up and got out of bed, shaking the blue duvet off the bed; he grabbed a pair of non ironed, pinstripe trousers of the bedroom floor. He pulled a shirt on and stormed down the stairs, wondering what had upset his wife so much.

"Coming!" he shouted, running down the stairs. When he saw his wife crying over a letter he knew what it was,

"Its them. Isn't it! " he said.

She looked up out of her tear stained eyes,

" They want their daughter back." she finished as Hermione walked into the kitchen.


	3. Telling The Untold

Reviews maybe?

Hermione looked around the room. Her mother was crying. Her father looked upset, almost close to tears, he looked worse than when South Africa had beaten England in the rugby world cup, and he wasn't the same for days after that. She wondered what was going on.

It felt like hours passed before Hermione's mother raised her head and said.

"Hermione, we have something we have to tell you."

Hermione sat down next to her mother, wondering what it could be to make her mother look this upset. She tried to put her arm round her mother, but her mother pulled away, as if she couldn't bear to touch her.

Then she stated quite simply.

"You're not our real daughter. We're part of the order of the phoenix protecting you."

Hermione couldn't think of anything to say. With that sentence her whole world had come crashing down. Everything that she thought she had known had gone. She was no longer Hermione Granger, She was.. She didn't even know that much.

Her father moved across the room and sat down on the chair opposite Hermione and said. "We were desperate for a child, absolutely desperate. We found out, that we could never have children. And then, than.." He stopped trying to think of how to explain the next part of the story.

"Dumbledore appeared on our doorstep. He was one of our last contacts in the wizarding world, One of the only wizards we knew would die fighting for the light, we knew we could trust him because he was never, never a dark wizard. He was holding in his arms a small bundle." He broke off, his eyes overcome with tears. "In that bundle, you were, the only daughter of Lord and Lady D'Neiro, Two of our Order of the Phoenix that had fled to America after being persecuted by death eaters."

Hermione's mother picked up the story, "We fell in love with you instantly. We had to take you in. Dumbledore warned us, that it would break our hearts when we had to tell you that you weren't ours. He was right, as usual". She said stopping.

Hermione thought to herself that it was a very dumbledoreish thing to leave babies on doorsteps, First Harry , then herself. She wondered how many other wizards and witches had been brought up with Muggles, lied to for years. Some probably never found out the truth, Orphans of war, just like Harry.

"So what happened to my real parents?" She asked, the words sounding strange on her tongue, like a foreign language.

"Their fine. We think, they managed to find a quiet place in the middle of America, somewhere unplottable, just like Hogwarts. We received a letter from them this morning. They want to meet you, to see you, to know you. If that is what you want?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione said thinking. Her brain was a whirl of thought. Did she really want to see these inposters into her perfect life? She decided that yes she did. Even if it was only to fill up the void that would now follow her forever.

"Yes." She said. "I would like to see them" She added. In a more definite voice.

"Then I will write back to them and tell them that." Her mother said calmly as if all life had been sucked from her.

"Mum, Dad?" Hermione said.

Her parents looked up to listen.

"I still love you both".


	4. Thoughts Of Betrayal And Hope

This chapter is mainly just thoughts, I thought it was time to update, but I didn't think I done the chapter justice without the emotional bits. Severus should be in the next chapter.

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There were so many thoughts running through Hermione's head, she felt numb, like nothing could ever be the same again, even the idea of seeing all her best friends seemed foreign to her. She could remember all the happy times of her own childhood, when she first went to primary school, riding her first bike, Art class which was held on a Tuesday after school throughout her 8 and 9th birthdays, Shepherds pie on a Tuesday night, even going to the park and swimming with her muggle friends. All of it was a lie, every little thing she had experienced, every touch, every single taste wasn't real.

Of course their had been bad times as well, When she broke her fingers after falling off of her birthday rollerblades, when she had got nits when she was 5 and her 'mother' had to squirt some awful vinegar solution over her hair, When she failed her 11 even though she was 'one of the cleverest that her primary school had ever seen. But nothing, nothing could ever compare to this. Nothing could ever take away all her memories, she decided.

She was as she had always been to some degree, alone in the world. She remembered the first half of year one at Hogwarts, she was alone then. But she was ok. She was just a muggleborn then, a sub degree incapable of feeling pain and hurt, the purebloods would say. But she was one of them now. She was pure of blood, not that these things mattered to her, she would quite happily give away everything she had learnt in the last day just to be a muggleborn with no hidden past again.

She had a different name now, a different identity to she had back then. Because she was a witch she couldn't just change her name back to Granger now she knew it was something different, their was very strong magic around pureblood names, Now she was of age and the wards had come down she was no longer 'Hermione Granger – Muggleborn, or mudblood to be crude' She was Hermione D'Neiro Pureblood now, But she knew that she had to be strong, screaming at everyone couldn't help that.

She knew that her non biological parents Mr and Mrs Granger, Did love her, and she knew that they had always wanted more children, but Hermione was all they ever could have. She understood how desperate they must have been, and how they would have readily accepted Dumbledore's proposal, no matter how much they knew it would break their hearts in years to come. Or maybe they didn't even think of the heartbreak? Of the betrayal their 'Daughter' would have felt in years to come? But she knew how desperate they were for children, was it all worth it? She wondered to herself.

She just looked up and smiled half heartedly at Mr and Mrs Granger, who were holding each others hands so delicately, as if they were clinging to something just out of reach, and looking at her like she was a ghost, and so fragile she would just slip away into a mist. She wasn't going to give them too much of a hard time, she thought they were probably suffering as much as her.

"I'm ok. I'm ok. I think" She said, as much to herself as to anyone else in the room. "I just need some time away from everything on my own, that's all. I think I need to discover who I am again; gather up what's left of everything I once knew and held so dear. For a start I think I'm going to go for a walk, just to clear my head and see how I feel then." '_And see if the air still feels the same, she added to herself._

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Her 'Father' Said to her. "Voldemort's followers will now know you exist, Who you are, Where you are, You could just be walking into danger."

She couldn't believe it, all the rational thoughts left her head as she fought with herself not to loose her temper with the people that had betrayed her life.

"So now, after everything I've ever done to fight Voldemort, you all think I'm incapable, that I need wrapping up in cotton wool. If the death eaters really wanted to find me what's to stop them apperating here and killing me?!"

"We are. They couldn't get in here, the place is heavily warded." Her father said.

Soundtrack to this chapter:

These are the days of our lives – Queen.

Runaway -Avril Lavigne.


	5. Tea Anyone?

She waited until she was inside her bedroom before breaking down in tears

She waited until she was inside her bedroom before breaking down in tears.

Nothing, nothing could ever prepare anyone for a shock like this, she honestly had no idea, which made it ten times worse.

Looking into the mirror at her tear stained face, she wondered how she could ever believe that they were here real parents, and they bore no resemblance to her at all. She was an average brunette; they were both rather well built blondes.

She wondered whether she was to live the rest of her life in the shadow of what once was.

Her whole life had been a lie, every book she read, every time she wrote her name, every time her name was spoken, all flashed by in a moment. She was Hermione.

The girl with no name. The muggleborn who wasn't one. The impostor. And the Pureblood, she was a Pureblood.

There was an almighty crash from her bed as a rather embarrassed looking professor Snape appeared sprawled on her bed, his robes in a heap with his head sticking out the top, like a cabbage patch. If Hermione had been in a better mood she would have found the whole thing absolutely hilarious.

"Bloody Dumbledore!" He yelled, loudly enough to make Hermione's 'mum and dad' come rushing to her bedroom to see what was going on.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Hermione yelled at him, turning around, momentarily showing him a sideways glimpse of her tear stained face.

"Dumbledore sent me here, _He _thinks that you need protecting. Waste of time if you ask me, I'm sure your clever enough to protect yourself, with or without your little troll brained, rat faced posse that you insist yourself in hanging around with. Not that I haven't got anything better to do with my time than protecting hormone driven teenagers" he snarled in one breath, unaware to some degree that he just complimented her, regardless of its surroundings, also making it obvious that he didn't want to be within ten foot of the crying witch.

On the contrary though, he didn't want to see her crying, although he did nothing to try to settle her. He was used to seeing women cry, being a death eater, but it never ceased to upset him slightly, although he always kept it well hidden. Anyway, he himself knew that matters of the heart were best left to those that they were belonging to, not random people casting sympathy, in matters that they knew nothing about.

"Hermione dear, Are you ok in there? Who was that?" her mum yelled from behind the door.

"Yes mum," she said quickly wiping her face, so her make up wasn't smeared down her face. She did not want her mother to see that she had been crying. She had to be strong.

"A teacher from my school just appeared in my room, pronouncing himself my 'protector'" she added, sarcasing the last word.

Her mum walked in. "Ah! You're the one that Dumbledore sent, It's an honour to have you here Mr…"

"Professor Snape mum" Hermione filled in, looking glum.

"Ah , And I've heard lots about you already!" Hermione's mum said cheerfully.

"All bad I presume." Severus stated rolling his eyes slightly. It wasn't a question. He knew that the golden trio had probably spent their holidays moaning about him.

"Actually, all our Hermione says is how brilliant you are!" Hermione's mum said.

She didn't see Hermione turn away, blushing.

"Tea anyone?" Hermione's father said.

Short chapter , will update soon.


	6. Cats ANd Wards

Ten minutes later and they were all sitting down for tea and ginger biscuits (low sugar), the potions master in his billowing

Ten minutes later and they were all sitting down for tea and ginger biscuits (low sugar), the potions master in his billowing black cape, looking out of place in the granger's modern sitting room. There was an uneasy silence amongst them all for several minutes until the potions master stood up just as crook shanks decided to enter the room and nuzzle up onto his lap.

The half kneesle cat dropped to the floor with a satisfying thud, before hissing at the potions master and exiting the room before more damage could be inflicted on its person. (It had become much tamer over the summer, and since Peter Pettigrew was not within ten yards of it.)

"So, I see you still have that vicious cat" The potions master said, insulting Hermione greatly.

"He's not vicious!" Hermione protested, They all turned around to look at her, knowing full well that crook shanks was probably the most vicious cat that walked the planet.

"Ok, ok..." she added quickly, seeing that she was going to loose this war of words, "he's just misunderstood. Greatly" she proclaimed, hoping that no one would say anything against her lovable cat. She couldn't help the fact that he enjoyed hissing and scratching people on a frequent basis.

The potions master appeared to make an inaudible laugh, before sitting back down again and taking another sip of his tea. The silence that had befallen them earlier came back, and yet again everyone looked around, hoping that another would be the first to speak.

Finally Mrs Granger broke the silence, "So what is it you teach at Hogwarts, dear?" She asked.

"Potions." Professor Snape said, casually not showing the disregard he truly had for Hogwarts at this given point of time. "Although, there's not much point teaching potions to the mass population of Hogwarts. Most of them tend to blow up the caldron, instead of mixing in it"

Hermione snorted. She knew one wizard who always seemed to do that. Neville Longbottom, who was probably one of the clumsiest wizards that Hogwarts, had ever seen. She cast a knowing eye at the professor, who flicked a slight smile in her direction. Snape smiling? That was odd she thought, before going back to sip on her lukewarm beverage.

Finally Professor Snape got up off of the sofa and made a move to exit the living room.

"I believe that your house needs warding before I turn in to my quarters, It's been a rather trying day." He lazily cast quite a few spells at the walls, fireplace, floors and doors. "I'll ward the whole house tomorrow, as I've only cast anti portkey and apparition jinxes on the house, I still need to ward the gardens and the street, with confudus charms, to stop any dark wizards from looking for you. Their only basic charms, but they have proven effective in the past. I will be here to accompany you on any trips you may make outside." Professor Snape said.

"I'll show you to your room Professor, I hope you find it adequate for your stay." Mrs Granger said to the potions professor.

"Thank you Mrs Granger" He replied, following her up the stairs and along the corridor.


End file.
